Four are competing at the position and none is a lock to be the starter.

FOXBORO, Mass. — — By the middle of last season, the Philadelphia Eagles saw fit to go forward with just two undersized nose tackles on their roster. The giant-sized one they thought would fit best at the start, Isaac Sopoaga, never worked out.

Bennie Logan, barely 300 pounds in full pads, took over after Sopoaga was shipped to the Patriots in a trade, but the Eagles won nearly every game he started, with 280-pound Damion Square backing him up efficiently.

Both are back in the mix this summer, although the picture has changed to include rookies Wade Keliikipi and Beau Allen, a seventh-round draft pick out of Wisconsin who is as wide as he is tall (6 feet, 2 inches). Logan is intentionally around 20 pounds heavier.

There might be room for three again at the start of this season, and although Logan is certain to be one of them, he is not a lock to be starting again, given the surprisingly consistent push of the pocket Allen showed with his extended reps in the preseason opener last Friday in Chicago.

All four were in action Tuesday at New England's training camp as the Patriots conducted the first of two joint practices with the Eagles leading up to Friday night's preseason game at Gillette Stadium.

For Logan, this extra time spent banging against another team represents a key part of the master plan to prepare him and his teammates for the season. Tuesday's workout was especially crucial for Logan because it was his first in full pads since injuring a hamstring early in camp.

"There's just something special this year," he said. "I feel it. I'm glad to be back, back to practice, being able to function, getting ready for the Friday game to show the things I've improved on and worked on.

"Today I didn't feel behind at all, rushing the passer and playing the run. I was comfortable and relaxed and able to make it happen."

Logan was at the center of a first-team defense that dominated its New England opponents at times, forcing quarterback Tom Brady into bad throws or flushing him from the pocket.

In a three-play stretch near the end of practice, Curtis Marsh broke up a hurried pass over the middle to Kenbrell Thompkins, Brady held the ball for more than five seconds before throwing incomplete over the middle and then was forced to run on the next play.

As always, with individual matchups downfield, both teams won their share. But Logan believes the Eagles won more than their share up front.

"We know the ins and outs of the defense now and feel more comfortable than last year," he said. "So that just showed. We were able to go out there and dominate and control things."

Logan came into camp encouraged by what had transpired in the offseason.

"The OTAs and the minicamps helped me experiment with the weight to see if I like it," he said, "and I was able to get the minicamp thing under my belt and felt pretty good at 315, so it allowed me to come into camp at the same weight and just compete from there."

And compete he will have to do, because Square remains solid and Allen seems destined to start at some point, even if he may have to wait a season.

Just because a player has a thick neck doesn't mean his head is strongly attached. In Allen's case, however, it is the perfect indication. He knows the role of a two-gap nose tackle in a 3-4 and he embraces it without question.

"You've got to look at the end product," he said. "It's not about stats and things like that, especially on the interior D-line. When you have a hard-fought game and you've got one assisted tackle or whatever, and then at the end of the day you look at the stat sheet and you're like, 'Wow, they only had 70 yards rushing,' that's kind of where you grade yourself or what you get excited about.

"I mean, everybody wants to be a playmaker, but you've got to know your role and you've got to be realistic with it. Obviously you go for those big plays and go for the sacks and go for the TFLs [tackles for losses] and all that good stuff, but you can't be too frustrated if you're just in there grinding. And you've just got to love it."